The Author's Preface to the Admirable Table of Logarithms
《奇妙的对数表》作者序
原题：The Authors Preface to the Admirable Table of Logarithmes（拉丁语）
约翰·纳皮尔 John Napier（1550–1617）
译者：Edward Wright（1561–1615），1616 年
1616 年（拉丁文原本 1614 年）

冷冻图书馆 · 开架书库 · S-007213 · https://coldlibrary.com/s/007213
权利：1616 年出版；纳皮尔卒于 1617 年，译者爱德华·赖特卒于 1615 年。已按澳大利亚、欧盟、英国、中国大陆和美国的规则核对（截至 2026 年 10 月 11 日）。仅供参考，不是法律意见。
来源：Internet Archive, A description of the admirable table of logarithmes (1616)，https://archive.org/details/bim_early-english-books-1475-1640_a-description-of-the-adm_napier-john_1616（取于 2026-10-11）
中文译文：Claude（AI），2026 · CC0 1.0
生成于 2026-10-14，来自 https://coldlibrary.com/open-stacks/napier-the-authors-preface

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Seeing there is nothing (right well beloued Students in the Mathematickes) that is so troublesome to Mathematicall practise, nor that doth more molest and hinder Calculators, then the Multiplications, Diuisions, square and cubical Extractions of great numbers, which besides the tedious expence of time, are for the most part subiect to many slippery errors. I began therefore to consider in my minde, by what certaine and ready Art I might remoue those hindrances. And hauing thought vpon many things to this purpose, I found at length some excellent briefe rules to be treated of (perhaps) hereafter. But amongst all, none more profitable then this, which together with the hard and tedious Multiplications, Diuisions, and Extractions of rootes, doth also cast away from the worke it selfe, euen the very numbers themselues that are to be multiplied, diuided, and resolued into rootes, and putteth other numbers in their place, which performe as much as they can do, onely by Addition and Subtraction, Diuision by two, or Diuision by three: which secret inuention, being (as all other good things are) so much the better as it shall be the more common, I thought good heretofore to set forth in Latine for the publique vse of Mathematicians. But now some of our Countreymen in this Island well affected to these studies, and the more publique good, procured a most learned Mathematician to translate the same into our vulgar English tongue, who after he had finished it, sent the Coppy of it to me, to bee seene and considered on by my selfe. I hauing most willingly and gladly done the same, finde it to bee most exact and precisely conformable to my minde and the originall. Therefore it may please you who are inclined to these studies, to receiue it from me and the Translator, with as much good will as we recommend it vnto you. *Fare yee well.*

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中文译文 · Claude（AI）译

诸位亲爱的数学学子：在数学实践中，没有什么比大数的乘法、除法、开平方和开立方更麻烦，更让计算者烦恼、受阻的了；这些运算除了冗长费时之外，大多还容易混进种种不易察觉的错误。因此，我开始在心里思量，用什么确定而便捷的方法可以消除这些障碍。我为此考虑了许多办法，终于找到了一些极好的简便法则，或许以后再谈。但在所有办法之中，没有一种比这一种更有用：它不仅免去了艰难冗长的乘法、除法和开方，连那些要相乘、相除、开方的数本身也从运算中去掉，而代之以另一些数，只需用加法和减法、除以二或除以三，就能完成那些数所能完成的一切。这一秘密的发明，像一切好东西一样，越普及就越好，所以我先前就用拉丁文把它发表出来，供数学家公开使用。如今，我国这座岛上一些热心于这门学问、也热心于公共利益的同胞，请了一位极有学问的数学家把它译成我们通俗的英语；他译完之后，把稿本寄给我审阅。我非常乐意地做了这件事，发现译文极其精确，完全符合我的意思和原文。因此，诸位有志于这门学问的人，请怀着我们推荐它时同样的善意，从我和译者手中接受它。*再会。*